Guard for shoe heels



April 17, 1934. N. F. WINGET 1,955,159

GUARD FOR SHOE HEELS Filed April 24, 1933 Patented Apr. 17, l1934 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to guards for shoe heels, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient construction adapted to slip over the heel of a shoe such as a womans shoe and protect it 5 from the wear which takes place in riding in an automobile, particularly when operating the automobile as driver.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a construction which is cheap to manufacture, neat and attractive in appearance which can be slipped on over the heel easily and which will remain positioned after being put on.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof, and its novel features are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing, which illustrates a form of my invention,-

Fig. 1 illustrates a womans shoe in position on 'the foot of the wearer and having one of my heel guards applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the heel guard of Fig. 1 viewed principally from the front. Fig. 3 is aback view of a shoe including the heel guard. Fig. 4 is a sectional 'view on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views of forms of the invention adapted for use on heels of diiferent sizes.

As shown, I provide a body member formed of side pieces 10 and 11 of suitable material, preferably fairly substantial material such as forms of suede cut and shaped as appears in the drawing and united at the back at 12 with a heavy outwardly-turned ribbed seam curved as indi- `cated at 13, 14 to fit the contour of the back limit of the heel of a shoe. The members 10, 11 are extended forwardly as indicated at 15 in Fig. 1 so as to embrace the body of the shoe alongside the high point of its arch. Upon the bottom of the combined members 10, 11 is positioned a piece of spring steel 16, the same being secured in position by a strip of material 17 sewed to the body members 10 and 11 on either side of the steel U-piece 16 as indicated at 18 in Figs. 5, 6 and '7. The shape of spring steel member 16 is T45 clearly shown in Fig. 4, being somewhat that of a horse-shoe with inwardly-turned portions 19, 20, having flares 21, 22 at their ends. As indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, the spring steel member 16 and the parts 10 and 11 united thereto will be 04formed in different sizes to adapt the device to be applied to heels of different sizes and styles. But one form of device will in practice be applicable to the heels of different sized shoes of the same style and shape.

In shaping the members 10 and 11, I have found it desirable to provide darts 23 and 24 in the inner edges of pieces 10 and 11, and to sew these darts together with an outwardly-extending heavy seam, which causes both a fit of the device to the heel, stiifens the same and produces an attractive appearance.

With very wide, low heels it may be desirable to provide means to secure the device to the upper top edge of a shoe. 'I'his is accomplished as shown in Fig. 7 by means of a at hook member 25 which is adapted to slip over the edge of the shoe between it and the stocking and prevent the device from tilting on the foot of the wearer. Only in very broad low heels Will such a holding device be desirable, as in all smaller sizes of heels, and, indeed, with the large fiat heels, the spring grip of the member 16 over the cloth composing the pieces 10 and 11 will be sufficient to hold the guard device positioned under all conditions of use. In some forms of the device a loop 26 is attached to the upper edge thereof at the end of seam 12 by which the device may be hung or handled in application and withdrawal.

The guard will in practice be used in connection with riding in or driving an automobile, or elsewhere, as at football games and the like, where there is a liability of rubbing and defacing the outer surface of the heels of shoes, particularly of Womens shoes. In applying the device it is only necessary to present the flared portions 21, 22 of spring member 16 to the back of the heel and push it forward until the device is seated rmly against the heel of the shoe with the raised seam 14 extending along the center of the back of the heel, and forget about it until it is desirable to remove the guard device. It will remain in position and will adequately protect the only part of the shoe which is subject to defacement. In the event that the hook member 25 is used, that may be inserted over the back of the shoe first and then the device pushed into position. In all cases when it is pushed into position the spring member 16 will spread about the heel and contract beyond its inner limit, holding the device with a iirm non-slipping grip.

I claim:

1. A guard for shoe heels comprising two pieces of fabric material secured together along their back meeting edge with an outturned seam, and provided with darts along their inner edges formed with outturned seams, adapted to envelop the heel part of a shoe, and a spring steel U-piece at the bottom of said material and secured thereto and adapted to embrace the bottom of the heel and hold the guard in position.

2. A guard for shoe heels comprising fabric material shaped and secured together to envelope the heel part of a low shoe from the bottom of the heel to the top of the back of `the shoe, a spring steel U-piece secured in said fabric at the lower part thereof and adapted t0 embrace the bottom part of the heel and come beneath the arch of the shoe, said fabric being cut backward so its upper edge ts along and under the narrow part of the shoe above the sole, and darts secured as outturned seams extending from the edge toward the back of said guard as shapers and stiffeners therefor.

3. A guard for shoe heels comprising two pieces of fabric material secured together along their back meeting edges with an outturned seam, and provided with darts along their inner edges formed with outturned seams, adapted to envelope the heel part of a shoe, and a spring steel U-piece secured at the bottom of said material and formed with its ends turned outwardly in the plane of the U-piece and so that the U-piece will closely encircle the bottom part of the heel and its ends come into the spaceA between the heel and below the arch of the shoe.

NELL F. WINGET. 

